The Bank of Canada recently lowered its export growth forecast to 2.5% over the next three months from around 3.0% in January due to the additional drag on global investment from uncertainty over U.S. trade policy.

Shortly afterwards, the U.S. administration slapped tariffs on Canadian exports of softwood lumber and complained about Canada’s dairy sector, helping to sink the Canadian dollar to 14-month lows.

Exports to the United States, which accounted for 73% of all Canadian exports in March, edged up by 0.1% while imports increased by 2.0%. As a result, Canada’s trade surplus with the United States slipped to $3.97 billion from $4.51 billion in February.